They still have it
By Dr. Michael R. Bowen
web posted October 8, 2001
Around the walls of the quarterdeck of every Naval Hospital
(you'd call it a lobby, but the Navy still clings to its salty
terminology), mounted at eye level, are copies of the citations for
the Medal of Honor awarded to United States Navy medical
personnel, almost exclusively Hospital Corpsmen (in other
services they would be called medics). Whenever I was posted
to a new Naval Hospital, I made a point of doing a circuit of the
quarterdeck, reading each one. You cannot do this without
developing speech problems and blurry vision before you are
half done.
Most citations feature a photograph above the text describing the
actions which merited the Medal. If it's a portrait of the
Corpsman, he died in the action described below his picture. In
all too few citations, the photograph shows the Corpsman
lowering his head as the President drapes the medal with its blue
ribbon and white stars about his neck. He is usually in his Service
Dress Blue uniform, commonly known as the "crackerjack", and
usually only partially in it because of twisted limbs, splints, and
bandages.
The best way, especially today, to view these citations is to read
the text first, then look at the picture. This is because, after
reading the heroic things these men did, you will be shocked to
look at the photograph and see the face of a boy.
Citation after citation, the story almost never varies: the shooting
starts, men are hit, and everyone hits the dirt. The air is filled with
flying metal; to stand up is to die. But one man does stand up, as
the cries for "Corpsman" go up. He runs through the lead and
shrapnel, dressing wounds and giving plasma, jobs he can usually
only do by standing or kneeling fully exposed. He is hit, but
drags the Marine to safety, and goes out again. Often his patient
is hit yet again as the Corpsman ministers to him; the Corpsman
then turns to place himself between the Marine and the enemy
guns, shielding the wounded man with his own body, and usually
getting hit again himself. He brings that man to safety, and goes
out again............ and keeps doing it until he dies.
Then you look at the face: the face of a teenager, complete with
sunny smile, pimples, and crooked teeth, the face of an ordinary
kid. In that face there is no clue of the heroism inside. Nothing to
tell you that this young man had it in him to do the most
courageous thing a man can do in battle: to stand up and walk
into the bullets when you can't even shoot back. To make
yourself a shield to stop bullets meant for others. To take your
own life, just as valuable as anyone else's, and trade it for the life
of your comrades.
Although they sometimes carried weapons, these young men
were no more enthusiastic for war than their counterparts who fill
today's high schools and colleges. They were plucked by history
out of their ordinary lives on farms, in cities, and suburbs, and
given a job to do. They, like today's kids, were probably largely
ignorant of the world politics which swept them onto the
battlefield. They wanted to come home more than anything in the
world, but so did everyone else, so they stuck to their posts.
We've been hearing quite a bit about how today's young men
think that going to war is always wrong. How their teachers and
professors try to fill their heads with the belief that America
deserved to be attacked, and that our cause is not just. We look
at the body piercings, the tattoos, the bizarre hair dye; we hear
the strange music and stranger lingo. We begin to think that they
could never face the things their fathers and grandfathers did.
When that happens, we need only take a tour of the
quarterdeck. Read the citations first, then look at the faces.
World War II, Korea, Vietnam: to their parents, the jitterbug,
Elvis, and the Beatles were utterly strange, yet nothing in all that
predicted what they did in battle. American boys, raised in
freedom, showed that they had what it takes.
I believe they still have it.
Dr. Michael Bowen, a former Naval officer, has a private
medical practice in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. He writes the
weekly column "The Basics" for www.americasvoices.org, a
conservative political opinion and educational web site. His
columns also appear in other popular Internet sites. E-mail him at
mbowen@americasvoices.org.
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